When did you get a prong collar for your dog?

[patton_jr]

So is there really no age? My girl is 3 months old now, and has no leash manners at all. No matter how much I shout, pull, or whatever, she just wants to go where she wants to go. IS she too young for a pinch? I do understand that there are other ways and I will try them too, however, I would like to know if the pinch is something that shouldn't be used till a certain age.

[Mick Trainer]

I would say that yes she is too young for a pinch or any other piece of training apparatice. She is young and not very big. Let her pull for a bit and tainer her to heal properly from about 5 months on.

Mick.

[Judi W]

And no shouting and pulling........ from either of you;)

[Rottnlove]

Jim,

You say Gates is pulling and has no leash manners yet. This sounds like a 3 month old pup. What kind of collar are you using? I believe a slip collar is best for her age. It has worked very effectively for us. When she pulls, just give the leash a quick pop, and call her back to you in a happy voice and treat. That should be a start. Also, when Gates starts to pull on her leash, just stop dead in your tracks and wait for her to relax. Then say, "Let's go" and begin walking once she stops pulling.

It just takes time, but I believe the slip collar is by far the most effective for a pup. I don't ever want to use a prong if I don't have to. One thing to keep in mind, if you want to pass the CGC test, you cannot use any of these devices. A flat buckle collar or a slip collar is all that is allowed.

[Mick Trainer]

Originally posted by Rottnlove
Jim,

You say Gates is pulling and has no leash manners yet. This sounds like a 3 month old pup. What kind of collar are you using? I believe a slip collar is best for her age. It has worked very effectively for us. When she pulls, just give the leash a quick pop, and call her back to you in a happy voice and treat. That should be a start. Also, when Gates starts to pull on her leash, just stop dead in your tracks and wait for her to relax. Then say, "Let's go" and begin walking once she stops pulling.

It just takes time, but I believe the slip collar is by far the most effective for a pup. I don't ever want to use a prong if I don't have to. One thing to keep in mind, if you want to pass the CGC test, you cannot use any of these devices. A flat buckle collar or a slip collar is all that is allowed.

I do not agree with this advice at this age. The dog is too young in my opinion for any such collar that has a high likelyhood of coursing damage to the trechea as well as the nerves in the back of the neck. You can also add to this that the mental matuirity of the pup is not sufficent for such training and the potential for causing problems due too this maturity is high.

I would almost always prefer the use of a prong to a slip chain but in this case recommend neither. Let the put mature more and you will get the results very quickly without anywhere near the risk of negative contingencies.

Mick.

[Rottnlove]

Originally posted by Mick Trainer
I do not agree with this advice at this age. The dog is too young in my opinion for any such collar that has a high likelyhood of coursing damage to the trechea as well as the nerves in the back of the neck. You can also add to this that the mental matuirity of the pup is not sufficent for such training and the potential for causing problems due too this maturity is high.

I would almost always prefer the use of a prong to a slip chain but in this case recommend neither. Let the put mature more and you will get the results very quickly without anywhere near the risk of negative contingencies.

Mick.

Wow, thanks for your response, Mick.

Interesting on the slip collar, it doesn't tighten hardly at all! Just a tad bit. It's different than the choke collar. I don't like the idea of the choke collar, where there is no limit as to how much it can tighten. That could definitely be damaging.

I've had 2 other trainers give me the recommendation to use the slip collar. It's done wonders with Xena and training. It doesn't seem to bother her at all, so that's interesting you say that. I appreciate your insight and information on this. She has never once showed any signs of this bothering her. I keep it adjusted just right, you can easily fit 2 fingers between the collar and her neck, so it doesn't tighten hardly at all.

Since using this collar, she walks very nicely on the leash and she learned very well. She's doing the best in her puppy kindergarten class, but the other puppy is using a slip collar after seeing the results with Xena. But I will definitely check into this. I want to do what's best for her. :)

[Mick Trainer]

Originally posted by Rottnlove
Wow, thanks for your response, Mick.

Interesting on the slip collar, it doesn't tighten hardly at all! Just a tad bit. It's different than the choke collar.

Okay this may be one of those cultural difference things. Can you describe what you call a slip chain as? For me Slip is the same as choker or a cable collar.

As for the negative contigencies I speak of this will depend on the dog. I can use compulsion on my young dogs also with little problems but a dog soft of nature or handler sensitive may have greater problems.

Mick.

[Rottnlove]

Originally posted by Mick Trainer
Okay this may be one of those cultural difference things. Can you describe what you call a slip chain as? For me Slip is the same as choker or a cable collar.

As for the negative contigencies I speak of this will depend on the dog. I can use compulsion on my young dogs also with little problems but a dog soft of nature or handler sensitive may have greater problems.

Mick.

One Slip Collar site

It's designed to limit the ability to close, and I always make sure it doesn't tighten too much. I test it when it's tightened, to be sure it doesn't choke her. Unlike a choke collar, it has no ability to stop except for choking the dog. The slip collar allows some limited pressure to correct the action while not being dangerous.

I also agree with you, every dog reacts differently, therefore not all dogs will respond as well to this collar and may need something else. But I have found it to be extremely helpful with our training.

[Mick Trainer]

Ahhh very good. This collar should cause no problems at all. So basically ignore everything I said regarding it.

Mick.

[Rottnlove]

Originally posted by Mick Trainer
Ahhh very good. This collar should cause no problems at all. So basically ignore everything I said regarding it.

Mick.

I figured it was a misunderstanding, because I respect your advice so much! :D :)

[patton_jr]

Thanks again. I was glad to see a thread started on this. The only thing was I didn't see where anyone talked about at what age this should be used.

Rottnlove- I have been doing everything you suggested. She is just really spastic when we get out in public. Right not I'm just using a plain old nylon buckle collar.

Judy W- I'm going to stop the shouting, and start letting the actions of me not budging do the trick.

I guess it's all a matter of time. ;)

[rottlove]

I've had good luck with the prong collar. Before I ever put the prong on my first rottie, I put it around my OWN neck and gave it a good yank. :) Not so bad, really. I occasionally used it on Baby because I think certain times walking your dog in public, to have 100% non-negotiable control over your dog is important.

So, here's my 1 YO Viva, going to the pet boutique for a dog wash where there are bully sticks, biscuits, greenies, rawhide in bins ALL at about a foot off the floor and my food-motivated Viva has a hard time resisting. One of the first times I've put the collar on her. We're pretty good at heel and leave it but... And, Viva has a really high prey (not predatory) drive -- anything that even looks like a ball makes her crazy with desire. SOooo, the lady that owns the place gives me that Look and asks me nicely why the prong collar, and says that she saw NUMEROUS injuries (punctures) from the prongs while working as a vet tech. And talks me into buying a Halti. I dunno, I'm pretty flexible, since nowadays people know what the Haltis are and don't automatically assume they are a muzzle :( . But what about these puncture wounds? Anybody ever heard of that? And, I will probably end up using both the prong collar and Halti, knowing both of their benefits -- but is that inconsistent training?

Sorry to ramble, but this just happened today and has me thinking.

[spidey]

she saw NUMEROUS injuries (punctures) from the prongs while working as a vet tech. And talks me into buying a Halti.

I see warning signs there - what a surprise that she had just the solution!

I never saw one injury from a prong collar when I worked as a tech, and I saw more than one neck and back injury from halter-type devices, my sister is a groomer in a very busy vet clinic and they haven't seen one injury from a prong. I think it would be hard to give a puncture wound with a prong, unless you've got a poorly-made prong with sharp edges, and an owner giving really brutal corrections or hanging the dog with it. I believe this lady was just selling you something, and pressing the "prongs look so mean, they must be cruel" buttons. Any device used improperly can cause injury, IME there's more chance of this with a halter than with a prong collar (I'm sure halters can work if the owner has the right training in their use, but more often than not people don't use them correctly, which is one reason why you often see dogs looking miserable in halters, but not in prongs). I think it was Mick Trainer here who has had good success with training with halters, but he says that one brand is good and the other is not, unless I'm mistaken he likes the Gentle Leader, and doesn't like the Halti, hopefully he'll read this and put me straight.

[Anne]

No it's the other way around. Mick is our trainer and he trains with Halti, not a Gentle Leader. I'm sure he will explain why when he comes on.

I just want to say that before we used the Halti my dog was almost uncontrollable with pulling etc., stopping and turning didn't have much affect at all, she still pulled and pulled. Now, after training with Mick and the use of the Halti I can walk her on a flat collar with no problems at all. I still use the Halti but not all the time as I want her to behave with any manner of collar. She does that now.

[spidey]

No it's the other way around. Mick is our trainer and he trains with Halti, not a Gentle Leader.

I couldn't remember, it figures I had it the wrong way round! :)